Giant virus discovery could rewrite the origin of complex life
A giant virus discovered in Japan is adding fuel to the provocative idea that viruses helped create complex life. Named ushikuvirus, it infects amoebae and shows unique traits that connect different families of giant DNA viruses. Its unusual way of hijacking and disrupting the host cell’s nucleus offers fresh insight into how viruses may have influenced the evolution of the cell nucleus itself. The finding deepens the mystery of viruses—and their possible role in life’s biggest leap.
Viruses may have played a far more dramatic role in the origin of complex life than anyone imagined. A newly discovered giant virus called ushikuvirus, found in Japan, infects amoebae and displays unusual features that blur the line between viruses and cells. Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com
The story of how life began on Earth grows even more intriguing when viruses enter the picture. These microscopic particles are thought to have existed since the earliest cells emerged. Unlike living cells, viruses consist only of genetic material and cannot produce proteins on their own. Because proteins are essential for cellular activity and survival, viruses depend entirely on host cells to function.
For decades, scientists have tried to understand where viruses came from, how they evolved, and how they fit into the tree of life. Professor Masaharu Takemura of the Graduate School of Science at Tokyo University of Science (TUS), Japan, has been a leading figure in this effort. In 2001, he and Dr. Philip Bell of the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University, Sydney, independently proposed the cell nuclear virus origin theory, also known as viral eukaryogenesis (term coined by Dr. Bell).
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